From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #271 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Sender: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Errors-To: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Precedence: normal owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Cdn-Firearms Digest Monday, September 17 2012 Volume 15 : Number 271 In this issue: [none] [none] [none] [none] [none] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: From: Subject: [none] http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/assaulted+with+weapon+home/7251977/story.html Man assaulted with weapon in home The StarPhoenix September 17, 2012 Saskatoon police are searching for witnesses in connection with a break and enter and vicious assault. The incident happened at a home on the 1600 block of 19th Street West just after 7: 30 p.m. Saturday. Suspects broke into the home and with a weapon assaulted a 39-year-old man who was inside, police said in a news release. The man was taken to hospital suffering from blunt force trauma to the head and he is in stable condition. Several witnesses have been interviewed by investigators but police are attempting to locate other witnesses. ------------------------------ Date: From: Subject: [none] This isn't the first time this issue has made the news. It adds to the growing list of reasons why many are reluctant to be a witness or even report a crime. (This would be in addition to the semi-secret F.I.P. file.) The underlying theme goes far beyond attempting to protect the public. It has morphed into a political principle that no one can be trusted, and all must be "approved" by the police. Beside the issue of a growing list of Criminal Code offenses of the victimless crimes category, there is another one. This safety obsession, is partly based on the fact, that so many seriously dangerous criminals, though apprehended and convicted by the work of witnesses, police, Prosecuting Attorneys, the judge's sentence is so short, the public has learned they feel surrounded by serial offenders. Secondly, this system places undue pressure on the police, as they feel they'll be blamed if they anyone they approve commits an offence. As a result rejecting as many as possible easily becomes their default position. Some also will submit to the temptation to list any contact with someone who is rude or in a bad mood or disagreeable. (Is this becoming like the P.A.L. process which encourages the police to reject as many as possible, where the applicant must prove himself innocent.) Much of the best part of our culture is transmitted by our tradition of volunteers in community, church, sporting and social activities. Over extending this public safety measure, beyond what is reasonable, as has the F.A., weakens our formerly free and democratic society and our nation. Below the article, I've included a few of the comments section, too. ========================= === http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/17/police-check- standards.html Police checks routinely violate privacy, report says Canada has 'patchwork' of policies that may contravene Charter rights By Maureen Brosnahan, CBC News Posted: Sep 17, 2012 10:35 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 17, 2012 12:19 PM ET Read 99 comments99 Nathalie Des Rosiers of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (left) and Jacqueline Tasca of the John Howard Society of Ontario discuss a new report that urges changes to the rules governing police background checks at a press conference on Monday. (Maureen Brosnahan/ CBC) A new report says many Canadians, especially in Alberta, are having their privacy rights violated because police are releasing non- criminal information in routine police checks. "The status quo is unacceptable," the report by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association concludes. "There is an urgent need for greater fairness and clarity in the police background check process." In the past decade, more and more organizations across Canada are requiring police checks before hiring employees or accepting volunteers. In Alberta alone, the report estimates that police run about 160,000 background checks every year. The information released contained not only information about convictions, but also about charges or contact with police which were either withdrawn or did not involve criminal activity. This includes cases involving mental health issues or where individuals were merely contacted as witnesses to crimes. Undermines presumption of innocence "Disclosing this kind of sensitive information may undermine the presumption of innocence," the report says. "Employers who receive negative record checks may not fully understand the distinctions between different types of police information, creating significant risk that non-conviction records will be misconstrued as a clear indication of criminal conduct." The 50-page report acknowledges the need to screen those chosen to work with vulnerable people or those hired for jobs in positions of trust. But it says in many cases, information that does not involve criminal activity is being handed over and that has led to cases of discrimination. 'There is an urgent need for greater fairness and clarity in the police background check process.' —Canadian Civil Liberties Association It calls for standards that would prohibit the release of information other than convictions, except in rare circumstances. It also says non-conviction records should be reviewed regularly and destroyed where warranted. It also says individuals should have a right to be notified on the information in their file and be able to appeal it before an independent adjudicator. While there are laws governing the release of certain information, such as under the Privacy Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the report says there are no set standards for what police services can or can’t collect and release in police checks. It calls the situation across Canada “a patchwork” of policies that may violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The report says the problem is particularly acute in Alberta, where it says there is too much discretion is left to individuals in police services as to what information can and should be retained and released. New guidelines in Ontario The report points to Ontario as an example of good practices. There, the province’s Privacy Commissioner issued an Order regarding the handling of information collected by police. This came after several court cases in which in individuals successfully sued the police over the release of such information. The order calls for routine expungement of non-conviction records except in cases where "there are reasonable grounds to believe an individual will commit a serious personal injury offence." As well, in response to complaints from citizens and advocates for those with mental health issues, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police last year issued new guidelines for the release of non- criminal information. Until then, the patchwork of procedures set by individual police forces often led to the released of such information, which was then used to discriminate against volunteers and those seeking employment. "By prohibiting the release of non-criminal health information collected by police, the new guideline is a meaningful step forward that will protect tens of thousands of Ontarians from stigma and discrimination," said Ryan Fritsch, legal counsel for Ontario’s Psychiatric Patient Adovocate Office. Report recommendations The CCLA report suggests policies should be changed across Canada to include the following provisions: 1. Non-conviction records should be regularly reviewed and destroyed in the overwhelming majority of cases. 2. Non-conviction records should be retained for inclusion in a police background check only in exceptional cases where police believe that doing so is necessary to reduce immediate public safety threats. The decision to treat a case as an exceptional one should be done at the time that the non-conviction record is created; i.e., immediately after the charge is dismissed, withdrawn or otherwise resolved by way of a non-conviction. 3. Where the government requests that a decision be made whether to retain a non-conviction record, the affected individual should be notified and provided with a right to make submissions. 4. If it is decided that retention is appropriate in a given case, the affected individual should have a right of appeal in front of an independent adjudicator. 5. Where non-conviction records are retained, they should be disclosed only in relation to certain employment or volunteer positions. 6. Proper monitoring mechanisms regarding the use and impact of all forms of police background checks should be put in place, including adequate data collection and public reporting. 7. Provincial human rights legislation should protect individuals from unwarranted discrimination on the basis of non-conviction disposition records. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/17/police-check- standards.html Comment: kindaknowstandard2012/09/17 at 9:00 AM ETRetired from the Federal Government a couple of years ago - (Canada Revenue Agency) In my last year we worked on a project in conjunction with both the local police and the RCMP in regards to income generated from criminal activities - as such we were given access to CSIS information - I was absolutely shocked to see how much information there is on file for even the average person. Trust me - Big Brother is watching !Rating423Agree　with comment (438 people agree)Disagree with comment (15 people disagree)ReplyShow 6 repliesPolicyReport abuse (0) KillerBarbiestandard2012/09/17 at 9:01 AM ETI was denied a volunteer position with Big Brother's Big Sister's (a charity in desperate need of volunteers) because it showed I had been subpoenaed, though didn't say what for. In reality I was subpoenaed to testify in court while working on the ambulance because I responded to a suspicious death of a child.Rating342Agree　 with comment (346 people agree)Disagree with comment (4 people disagree)ReplyShow 2 repliesPolicyReport abuse (0) FactNotFallacy2standard2012/09/17 at 8:47 AM ETIf all I gave was consent for a criminal background check and the police provided more that what I gave consent for, no matter how trivial, I would deem that a breach of the conditions of consent and would be suing. Unless a record exists due to a court appearance and conviction, nobody should be given information other than that alone. If no conviction exists, then all information should be withheld. Most consent forms do not grant access to extraneous information; why are the police not reading them and acting accordingly?Rating328Agree　 with comment (344 people agree)Disagree with comment (16 people disagree)ReplyShow 3 repliesPolicyReport abuse (0) AGoodDaytoThinkstandard2012/09/17 at 8:44 AM ETSo, the police visiting me twice because my licence plate was stolen twice, could make me an undesirable candidate for certain jobs. Does seem fair.Rating282Agree　with comment (300 people agree) Disagree with comment (18 people disagree)ReplyPolicyReport abuse (0) LGClarkstandard2012/09/17 at 9:00 AM ETAre we supposed to be surprised by this? ------------------------------ Date: From: Subject: [none] ...political corruption"-CP Montreal, like New Jersey, NYC, have a tradition of mafia organized crime being well integrated into some businesses and politics. I'm reminded of David Kopel's book, "The Samurai, The Mountie and the Cowboy" ,where he notes organized crime in New York City was assisted in their development by highly restrictive gun laws. ============================== http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Quebec+corruption+probe+into +construction+industry+resume+after/7252405/story.html Quebec probe, back from break, to hear testimony about political corruption By The Canadian Press September 17, 2012 11:10 AM This artist drawing shows undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, at federal court in Manhattan, New York City on Tuesday, August 3, 1982, during the trial of five men accused of violating racketeering laws. Most people know Joseph Pistone by the name of his alter-ego, "Donnie Brasco." A corruption probe in Quebec is scheduled to resume today after a three-month summer break. There are reports that the real- life "Donnie Brasco" could be one of the first witnesses to take the stand.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - WNBC-TV - Ida Libby Dengrove MONTREAL - Quebec's construction inquiry has resumed after a three- month summer break and there are hints that it is about to hear testimony about political corruption. France Charbonneau, the head of the commission, said Monday that most of its work this fall will focus on the infiltration of organized crime into the construction industry. "We will hear from experts who will describe how organized crime infiltrates the legal activities of the construction sector and puts them in danger," she said in an opening statement. "We will also focus on violence and extortion which is present on certain construction worksites." Charbonneau said witnesses will testify about collusion and corruption related to the awarding and management of public contracts. In particular, the witnesses will discuss contracts awarded in Montreal and Laval for work like sidewalks, sewers and asphalt. They will also testify about the financing of municipal and political parties. Elected officials from Montreal and neighbouring Laval will be named by witnesses, she said. Charbonneau noted that because the commission's mandate covers the entire province, inquiries are underway in a number of areas outside Montreal. Charbonneau said more than 1,600 tips have been received so far from different parts of the province. She said investigations are taking place on Quebec's North Shore, the Abitibi region, Trois-Rivieres, the Eastern Townships and Quebec City. The public inquiry began hearing witnesses in early June for three weeks but some of the most important testimony is expected this fall. Commission lawyer Sonia Lebel said it will call 50 witnesses who will testify about the impact of organized crime within the industry. "Our investigation to date has allowed us to identify two groups linked to the construction industry the Mafia and criminal biker gangs," Lebel said. Among the witnesses scheduled is an officer with Quebec's provincial police who specializes in biker gangs, and a police officer from Ontario who will discuss the Mafia in that province. Lebel says an RCMP analyst who specializes in the Mafia in Quebec will also testify. "Organized crime is not attacking the system. Rather, they are using the system and taking advantage of its weaknesses," Lebel said. Others are also expected to testify either behind closed doors or with publication bans on their identities, for security purposes. "These witnesses will seriously set the table for the rest of the commission's work," Lebel said. Charbonneau asked media to stop releasing names of witnesses in advance. There were reports late last week that the FBI officer who famously passed himself off as "Donnie Brasco" would testify, something inquiry officials won't confirm or deny. Joseph Pistone is the man who decades ago infiltrated the New York Mafia in an operation immortalized in a 1997 Hollywood film. Pistone's name was not mentioned Monday on the witness list. Outgoing premier Jean Charest launched the inquiry after intense public pressure. ------------------------------ Date: From: Subject: [none] ...mob"-CBC Neil Macdonald: A mighty nation, frightened by an angry mob By Neil Macdonald, CBC News Posted: Sep 16, 2012 10:04 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 16, 2012 10:03 PM ET Neil Macdonald Senior Washington Correspondent About The Author Neil Macdonald is the senior Washington correspondent for CBC News, which he joined in 1988 following 12 years in newspapers. Before taking up this post in 2003, Macdonald reported from the Middle East for five years. He speaks English and French fluently, and some Arabic. Generally, the term "hard power" as opposed to its "soft" diplomatic equivalent evokes images of American warships flinging Tomahawk missiles out into the night, usually to convince some tyrant or regime to change its ways. What's happening right now throughout the Muslim world, though, is exactly the opposite. The thugs are throwing the bombs, and the mightiest nation on Earth is trying to placate them. Mob violence has the White House on the defensive. The president of the United States is now publicly repudiating, and trying to suppress, an anti-Islamic propaganda effort the U.S. government had nothing to do with in the first place. "I have made it clear that the United States has a profound respect for people of all faiths," said President Obama almost plaintively in his weekly radio address Saturday. "We stand for religious freedom. And we reject the denigration of any religion including Islam." A president, reduced to using the most powerful bully pulpit in the nation to criticize a clownish little sacrilegious internet video. There are also reports that the White House has contacted Google, the parent company of YouTube, and asked that it consider removing from public view Innocence of Muslims, which has been used as the pretext for anti-American rioting and protests in dozens of countries, from Mauritania, on the west coast of Africa, to Indonesia. It is certainly one of the most severe tests of freedom of expression America has ever faced. And America's leadership, rather than pushing back at its attackers, is instead blaming the speech that gave insult. Where blasphemy is legal Most of those rioting do not understand, or care about, the concept of free speech. That is evident in the widespread demands including one from the Islamist president of Egypt that America make the offending video disappear, and punish its authors. Such calls are understandable, given that in many parts of the world, and not just Islamic nations, governments simply stamp out speech, and imprison, or just do away with the offending author. The American government, though, is shackled by its own basic law. Protesters take part in a demonstration condemning a U.S.-made film which they say insults the Prophet Mohammad, near the U.S. embassy in Cairo.Protesters take part in a demonstration condemning a U.S.-made film which they say insults the Prophet Mohammad, near the U.S. embassy in Cairo. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) Blasphemy is perfectly legal here. As are expressions of bigotry, hatred, and treasonous thought. It is even permissible here to urge the extinction of a racial or religious group. There are a few exceptions. Heaven help you if you mention the word "bomb" in an airport, and of course conspiracy to commit a crime is in itself a crime, as is incitement of violence against an identifiable individual. There are also libel and slander laws, although they are weaker than anywhere else in the Western world. But even where official secrets are concerned, the government intervenes only when the person discussing them is bound by a secrecy oath. Simply put, speech is freer and more protected here than anywhere else in the world, even countries that see themselves as fellow free- speech democracies. Canada has federal and provincial human rights commissions that will investigate individuals suspected of bigoted speech, and the Quebec government has used the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to restrict languages other than French on commercial signs. In Germany, it is illegal to display Nazi iconography. France has a law forbidding the veils used by Muslim women to hide their faces. Israel has since its establishment had emergency laws in place giving the government wide censorship powers. The British government can use prior legal restraint to quash news reports it deems offences to national security. All of these laws would shatter on the immovable rock of the American constitution. 'Hate' versus 'protected' speech As for those in Canada who are wondering whether the anti-Muslim video used as a pretext for the rioting and murder abroad might not be banned as "hate speech," the answer is that hate speech does not exist in America, at least not as a legal concept. Here, "hate speech" is called "protected speech." Americans tend to believe the best tool for fighting offensive speech is more speech. A U.S. flag is seen at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after the building was attacked and set on fire by gunmen on Sept. 12. Four American diplomats were killed in the violence.A U.S. flag is seen at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after the building was attacked and set on fire by gunmen on Sept. 12. Four American diplomats were killed in the violence. (Esam Al-Fetori/Reuters) That said, there is realpolitik. Protecting speech like Innocence of Muslims has consequences. The administration's repeated avowals of respect for Islam have had little effect. Hatred of Americans is intensifying. Clearly, Americans abroad are at much greater risk than they were two weeks ago, especially diplomats. Mobs in foreign capitals are chanting "Obama, Obama, we are all Osama." And while Google has blocked access to Innocence of Muslims in a handful of Islamic countries, it has refused to block it anywhere else, in spite of White House entreaties. So, rather than trying to explain one of its bedrock, founding principles, the American government is sounding instead as though it sympathizes with those who would censor and punish blasphemy. Listening to Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on morning talk shows Sunday, it was easy to come away with the impression that all the responsibility for the violence and death lies with the creators of the buffoonish video, and not the flag- burning, fire-setting crowds, or the men who showed up at the U.S. mission in Benghazi with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, and proceeded, using military tactics, to kill four American diplomats. A ridiculous comparison "This was not a preplanned, premeditated attack," Rice told Fox News Channel, contradicting members of Congress who have received security briefings. Rather, she said, "it was a spontaneous reaction" to what she repeatedly denounced as "a very hateful, very offensive video that has offended many people around the world." "Obviously," she told another interviewer, "our view is that there is absolutely no excuse for violence, and what has happened is condemnable. But this is a spontaneous reaction to a video and it's not dissimilar, but perhaps on a slightly larger scale, than what we've seen in the past." She then went to another level altogether, comparing the video, a trashy production of some radical Christian cranks in California, to The Satanic Verses, a widely acclaimed novel that earned its author, Salman Rushdie, a death sentence in absentia from Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It's a ridiculous comparison. One is garbage, the other is an enduring piece of literature. But they do have two things in common. Both are forms of speech. And religious demagogues have used both to incite murder. It is a measure of demagoguery's power that the administration would feel intimidated enough to make such a comparison. President Obama is often accused by Republicans of "apologizing for America." That's unfair. But he is allowing America to be bullied by zealots. ------------------------------ Date: From: Subject: [none] OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE To Harper and Breitkreuz . both of you promised to end C-68 . Both of you . . once elected broke your promise the ONLY honourable thing to do is resign . . Wanted: some honourable gentlemen . . DURESS AND THREATS OF LAWFUL ACTION Civil law as it was set out in 1700's. [PDF] LLB (Hons) Open Learning: Year 1 Modules Adobe PDF Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmiston Law of Contract (15th ed) Oxford Treitel ... compulsory subjects to include tort, public law and human rights, criminal and civil ... nuweb.northumbria.ac.uk/live/.../modules_listall_pdf.php?code=DUDLAW1 [PDF] DURESS AND THREATS OF LAWFUL ACTION Adobe PDF civil process for purposes foreign or collateral to the ... Treitel TheLaw of Contract (4th ed.) at 270; and Cheshire and Fifoot's, Law of Contract (9th ed. by Furmiston). www.austlii.edu.au/nz/journals/CanterLawRw/1980/5.pdf Christine MATTE Matrise de Droit: Civil Dispute Resolution, Contract Law DESS Droit Europen ... - CHESHIRE, FIFOOT & FURMISTON, Law of Contract, Butterworths Tolley, 13th ed. 1996 ... www.droit.univ-paris5.fr/HTMLpages/enseignants/staff/matte/MATTE.html DURESS AND THREATS OF LAWFUL ACTION BY W. G. G. A. YOUNG, LL.B.(HONS.) (Cantuar); PH.D. (Cantab.), BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR. The purpose of this article is to explore the validity of the oft- expressed view that pressure may only amount to, duress in the law of contract or quasi-contract if it consists of action or threats of action of an illegal nature. It has been so often stated that threats of lawful action cannot amount to duress that at first sight the proposition involved appears to be axiomatic; but, as we shall see, the courts have so often granted relief on grounds of duress in circumstances in which it is impossible to point to threatened or actual pressure of an illegal nature that this apparent axiom requires con-siderable re-examination. In the course of this article a number of the traditional and some non- traditional heads of duress will be examined with a view to showing that the usual analysis of duress as involving only pressure consisting of threats of illegal action or actual illegal action is inadequate. DURESS OF IMPRISONMENT Most of the cases in which duress of imprisonment has been successfully pleaded have involved imprisonment which was or would have been illegal either as amounting to false imprisonment,~ or because an action for malicious arrest or, perhaps, abuse of process could have been brought.~ Nonetheless, the oft-expressed assumption that the legality of an actual or threatened imprisonment is itself fatal to a plea of duress3 appears to be unfounded. It seems that the use of powers of imprisonment pursuant to civil process for purposes foreign or collateral to the proper resolution of the dispute to which the civil process relates may be duress, apparently independently of any consideration as to whether the imprisonment was or would have been tortiom;* and courts of equity were, and possibly still are, prepared to set aside transactions made by prisoners where undue advantage has been taken of their position, irrespective of the legality of the imprison- ment in question.~ Passing a law which takes away a right . . that of property . . then threatening prison unless that law is not followed . . in my opinion invites a fundamental denial , and that is refusal. It is the duty to fight an unjust law . . 'When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty' 'When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty' ... If we dont fight, we lose! In an either/or situation, the enforcement of an unpopular law ( C-68) and its illegitimate children safe storage and careless use . . clearly places a burden upon former law-abiding owners which lacks justification . Until the law . . owning something wasn't a crime . . in my opinion it still isn't . . there is your case . . your fight . . a licence is a tax a fine a punishment . . ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #271 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's email: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)